Anchoring bolt for water closet bowls



May 4, 1965 P. J. BREWINGTON ANCHORING BOLT FOR WATER CLOSET BOWLS Filed Aug. 19, 1963 FIG. I

FIG. 3

INVENTOR.

United States Patent O 3,181,585 ANCHURENG BOLT EGR WATER CLSET BQWLS Philip .1. Brewington, 6401 Emerald St., Austin, Tex. Filled Aug. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 303,051 3 Claims. (Cl. 151-41.75)

This invention relates to water closets and has for its principal object the provision of an inexpensive closet bolt having a wide range of adjustment, suitable primarily for anchoring a closet bowl to the ring or flange of the outlet pipe and therefore to the lloor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bolt equal in effectiveness to others on the market but appreciably less costly to make and to install and one in which the simple cap which may be made of plastic will serve cliciently to replace the usual washer, nut, and cover cap.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closet bowl three-piece anchoring device including a headless screw of metal such as steel capable of tapping threads in the other two pieces, a cap and a retainer, whereby the screw will adjust for differences in thickness of the closet bowl rims by screwing more or less into the bottom part, the retainer, or into the upper part, the cap, which serves as a nut.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a central vertical section through a closet bowl secured to a flanged outlet pipe by the anchoring bolt of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevat-ion looking toward the common axis of the bowl and outlet pipe;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section at right angles to the view of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section taken of FIGURE l.

In FlGURE 1 the anchoring bolt 1 is shown as connecting the rim 2 of water closet bowl 3 to the annular flange 7 of an outlet pipe 21 of usual type therefore having bayonet slots 111 each with an enlarged entry hole 11. The bowl has two smooth circular openings 22 at the same radial distance from the common axis of the bowl and outlet pipe as the mid-point of the width of the bayonet slot.

The anchoring bolt 1 consists of three pieces; a screw 5 preferably of uniform diameter throughout, a cap 4 at its outer end, and a retainer 6 at its lower end, the latter serving much in the nature of a nut save that it is inaccessible frorn the bottoni after installation. N

The screw 5 is of steel or similar material as it is intended to cut threads simultaneously in both the cap and in the retainer which are furnished with smooth bores of proper size. The cap 4 and the retainer 6 are made of metal such as lead but preferably are made of nylon.

The cap 4 has a lower cylindrical portion 15 rather closely fitting the hole 22 and has a head 18 preferably hexagonal for reception of a wrench. The depth of the bore in cap 4 is only slightly greater than the length of the cylindrical portion as indicated at 24.

The retainer 6 includes an oblong central section 8 having substantially parallel sides 26 and 27 to guide the retainer along the slot 10 and prevent turning of the retainer about the screw. The section 8 is integral with the oblong lower section St) which acts as a nut. The section 8 is also integral with the upper, curved llexible wing 9 which presses downward on the upper surface 14 of the flange 7 therefore resists movement of the retainer but yields to accommodate variations in thickness of the llange 7 of the outlet pipe 21, the tapered tip readily moving from full line position 12 to dotted line position 13 when a thicker flange 7 is used.

on line 4-4 CII The two retainers 6 are inserted through openings 11 in ring 7 and a screw 5 is next threaded by hand into each retainer, usually cutting only a single thread deep. The retainers are next gently knocked along slot 10 into positions directly beneath the location of the proximate hole 22. The closet bowl is then set in place on the seal 29 with the two threaded screws 5 protruding upwardly through the rim; the caps 4 are now placed on top of the screw and turned to produce internal threads therein. This turning the cap causes the screw to follow the law of least resistance; that is, as the screw begins to tap a thread in the lower portion or in the cap each additional thread creates resistance and as the screw is simultaneously cutting threads both in the top cap and in the bottorn retainer this will adjust the bolt to a certain degree relative to the top and bottom portions and thus be efcient with bowls with different thicknesses of rims.

As the threads are being cut in cap 4 the screw 5 Will tinally engage the bottom 24 of the bore in the cap and thereafter the thread cutting will only be in the retainer 6, the screw 5 normally passing entirely through the retainer as shown in the gures.

What I claim is:

1. A three-piece anchoring bolt for water closet bowls comprising a retainer adapted to slide in the bayonet slot of the flange of the outlet pipe of a closet bowl, a headless steel screw having a threaded engagement with the retainer, and a cap having an axially directed threaded opening extending partially thereinto to receive the screw; said retainer having an axis and an axially extending oblong central section with substantially parallel sides to prevent rotation in said slot, in integral botton portion at one end of said central section extending in a radial direction beyond said parallel sides whereby to engage one side of said outlet pipe lange on both edges of said bayonet slot, thin llexible wings extending radially beyond said parallel sides, said wings being integral with the end of said center section opposite to said one end and being curved downward toward said one end to resiliently engage the side of said flange opposite said one side, said wings adapted to overlie both edges of said bayonet slot on the side of said flange opposite said one side to resist movement of the retainer along said slot and accommodate different thicknesses of the flange, said retainer having an axially extending bore therethough, and said cap having a cylindrical neck adapted to engage one of the usual holes in the rim of said bowl and an enlarged head having Hat sides adapted to overlie the bowl rim and be engaged by a wrench to turn the cap to bind the closet rim to the outlet flange.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the cap and the retainer are of a plastic material and the screw is of a material hard enough to cut internal threads in the cap and in the retainer.

3. The device of claim 2 in which the cap and the retainer are of nylon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,811,262 6/31 De Sana 85-9 1,820,064 8/31 Green.

1,820,667 8/31 Leyes.

2,538,483 1/51 Summers 85-35 2,789,615 4/57 Allen ISI-41.7 2,836,216 5/58 Rapata ISI- 41.75 2,996,728 8/ 61 Minella 85--32 3,03 0,997 4/ 62 Collins 151-7 EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A THREE-PIECE ANCHORING BOLT FOR WATER CLOSET BOWLS COMPRISING A RETAINER ADAPTED TO SLIDE IN THE BAYONET SLOT OF THE FLANGE OF THE OUTLET PIPE OF A CLOSET BOWL, A HEADLESS STEEL SCREW HAVING A THREADED ENGAGEMENT WITH THE RETAINER, AND A CAP HAVING AN AXIALLY DIRECTED THREADED OPENING EXTENDING PARTIALLY THEREINTO TO RECEIVE THE SCREW; SAID RETAINER HAVING AN AXIS AND AN AXIALLY EXTENDING OBLONG CENTRAL SECTION WITH SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SIDES TO PREVENT ROTATION IN SAID SLOT, IN INTEGRAL BOTTON PORTION AT ONE END OF SAID CENTRAL SECTION EXTENDING IN A RADIAL DIRECTION BEYOND SAID PARALLEL SIDES WHEREBY TO ENGAGE ONE SIDE OF SAID OUTLET PIPE FLANGE ON BOTH EDGES OF SAID BAYONET SLOT, THIN FLEXIBLE WINGS EXTENDING RADIALLY BEYOND SAID PARALLEL SIDES, SAID WINGS BEING INTEGRAL WITH THE END OF SAID CENTER SECTION OPPOSITE TO SAID ONE END AND BEING CURVED DOWNWARD TOWARD SAID ONE END TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE THE SIDE OF SAID FLANGE OPPOSITE SAID ONE SIDE, SAID WINGS ADAPTED TO OVERLIE BOTH EDGES OF SAID BAYONET SLOT ON THE SIDE OF SAID FLANGE OPPOSITE SAID ONE SIDE TO RESIST MOVEMENT OF THE RETAINER ALONG SAID SLOT AND ACCOMMODATE DIFFERENT THICKNESSES OF THE FLANGE, SAID RETAINER HAVING AN AXIALLY EXTENDING BORE THERETHROUGH, AND SAID CAP HAVING A CYLINDRICAL NECK ADAPTED TO ENGAGE ONE OF THE USUAL HOLES IN THE RIM OF SAID BOWL AND AN ENLARGED HEAD HAVING FLAT SIDES ADAPTED TO OVERLIE THE BOWL RIM AND BE ENGAGED BY A WRENCH TO TURN THE CAP TO BIND THE CLOSET RIM TO THE OUTLET FLANGE. 